KORAY
Koray had spoken - and acted - in anger, but he did not intend on leaving his father hurt and alone in the sand. Seething, he waited for the stallion to respond, to show that Koray had indeed cut him deep with his comment. He wanted the satisfaction of seeing his father laying there helpless and begging for his life. Koray had no intention of killing him, of course, but a little fear would not go amiss. After the shame he had brought on himself and his herd by losing Vita, Koray needed his sire to know that he was still strong and capable, and he had no intention of losing his title too. It was bad enough Orhan had seen him cry.
But his father did not respond. He lay there in the sand, staring up at Koray with empty eyes. It annoyed the perlino stallion. “Get up,” he snarled, and kicked at Orhan’s belly with a front hoof. The stallion shifted gently from the action, but otherwise did not stir. He was not breathing, Koray realized. Shit.
It was then he heard hoof beats in the sand nearby. Panic coursed through Koray. His eyes roamed the still form of the buckskin stallion, lingering on his slack face. If he was dead, Koray had no intention of being found over his body. The perlino stallion turned and hastily began to kick sand over Orhan, but just moments later he saw the form of an approaching horse materializing out of the dusk. “There you are!” he heard his sister call happily, and Koray went cold. He froze and waited for his younger sister to canter to him with a smile on her face, hoping foolishly that she would not notice the half-hidden body of their father behind him.
“Evren, you’re back,” he greeted her stonily. He could feel himself breaking out in a cool sweat. The young mare was breathless when she reached him, but otherwise looked well. Her slim body had filled out some, though it may have been her unusually shaggy coat making her seem larger than she was.
“That I am,” she replied, “though not without trouble. Some stallion tried to keep me prisoner; can you believe that? I taught him a thing or two, though. And I ran into Vita. She seems… happier. I’m glad you haven’t gone after her. It was the smart thing to do.”
Koray saw her eyes drop, and adrenaline surged through him. He could feel his heart pounding so hard he thought it might burst.
“What on earth is… Dad?” The mare pushed past him. “Dad, what’s wrong? Why are you…?” She lowered her head and nudged his jaw repeatedly. His empty eyes stared past her. Evren whipped around to face Koray, her expression wild with alarm. “What’s wrong with him?” Her voice, already shrill, became shriller as she addressed her father’s fallen form again. “Dad, wake up!” she cried, and dropped to her knees beside him.
Koray could bear it no more. “Stop it!” he shouted, and barrelled into her, pushing her aside. “He’s gone; there’s nothing you can do.”
His sister’s legs flailed in the air as she caught her balance and struggled back to her feet. “Koray, what’s wrong with him? What happened to him?” Floods of tears streamed down her face, and there was desperation in her eyes as she accosted him, searching for the truth in his expression.
He could not meet her eyes. He looked away. “I don’t know; I don’t know!” he retorted, emotion tightening his throat. He took several steps backward.
All at once the grief in Evren’s tone morphed into hot rage. “What did you DO? Koray! Face me! Look at me! WHAT DID YOU DO? WHAT DID YOU DO?” She was pressing in on him, shouting in his face, hurting his ears, bumping his shoulder with her chest.
“IT WAS AN ACCIDENT,” he finally cried, his own tears spilling again. “It wasn’t my fault! He was stupid; he was challenging me--”
He heard Evren’s shuddering breath. “You COWARD! YOU MURDERER!” she screamed, and their bodies clashed together with a jarring impact. Koray reared and attempted to twist away from her, but she followed him, and he could feel her teeth and hooves scraping every inch of his skin. He turned his hindquarters to her and kicked, but if she felt his hooves she gave no indication of it. Koray’s grief and shame abandoned him in those moments, replaced by the fierce rage of self-preservation; he met Evren’s wild attacks with more of his own, but she was smaller and quicker, and very soon he began to grow tired. He had not slept in days, and had hardly eaten; his body did not have the strength it once had.
She was relentless. She did not stop until he was on the ground, just as their father was a few strides away. Koray gasped for air and rolled to sit up, but did not stand - he knew Evren would attack him again if he did. Instead he glared at her in silence, full of righteous indignation, while she caught her breath a short distance away and met his gaze with unmasked loathing.
Finally she said, “I knew this would happen. That day you hurt me, I knew it was only a matter of time before you lost control again - before you killed someone, whether you meant to or not. What do you have to say for yourself, you piece of shit?”
Koray took a long, tremulous breath before replying, his tone low and venomous. “I didn’t mean to kill him. He died of his own stupidity--”
“SHUT UP!” Evren screamed, her ears flat against her head, and Koray obeyed. A moment passed. “Thank goodness Vita Nova is gone, far away where you can’t hurt her. All that’s left is to tell the others what you’ve done. If you’re lucky, maybe they’ll let you live - though if I had my way, I would strike you down right here and now. You are no brother of mine; you’re a threat to this herd, and I’m angry I didn’t do something about it sooner.”
Her voice cracked with emotion, and she looked down to compose herself. In that instant she looked half a filly again. “Then do it,” Koray spat.
She looked up at him, her eyes shining with unshed tears.
“If my existence offends you so much, then do it.” He waited, but she did nothing. They stared at each other, and slowly a sad smile twisted Koray’s features. “You can’t, can you? You’re as soft as Father.”
With a sudden grimace and intake of breath, Evren reared up and brought her hooves down on Koray’s head.
By the time dawn came, both bodies had been swallowed by the sand.
MUTT; 16HH; PERLINO; SIX
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